Improvement in manufacturing illuminating-gas



@uitrit Vtrates atent @fitta JOHN B. TERRY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

Leiters Patent No. 72,118, dated .December l0, 1867. l

IMPROVEMENT IIN M ANUPerUsING ILLUMINArINe-ens.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCEEN Be it known that I, JOHN TERRY, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Illuminating-Gas; vand I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings. v

Many attempts have heretofore been made to introduce into general use, air charged or saturated with the vapor of hydrocarbon fluids, as a substitute for ordinary coal-gas. Such attempts, however, pwing to the extreme sensitiveness of fluid hydrocarbons to heat and cold, have met with'but little success, for in distributing the hydrocarbon gas through mains and branch pipes to the various buildings or houses where its services are required, pursuing the same method adopted in the distribution of ordinary illuminating-gas, any comparatively slight accessionof cold will cause the condensation of the gas in the pipes, which consequently become clogged, and ultimately unfitted for use. It is, therefore, under the present method of manufacturing gas from hydrocarbonliluids, practically impossible to employ such gas in the manner just indicated, and its use is much less general than it would beif the diihculty above named were removed.`

Theobject of myi'nventiomis to treat the gas generated from hydrocarbon fluid soms to remove in great meas.- urc its liability to condense. I have foundlthat this object can be accomplished byheatng the gas or carburetted air, just after itis discharged from the gas-generating apparatus, or before its delivery as an illuminating-gas. The saturatedair or gas is passed through a heated retort, in which the' air and hydrocarbon are cach` decomposed, and a mixture of air, carburetted hydrogen, and a small quantity of carbonic acid, passes out from the retort to thev burners or is collectedin the gasoineter.` The gas thus produced is ready for use, and is not more liable to condense than erdinaryjcoal-gas, the action of the heat having destroyed the condensing element which it had formerly possessed.

To enable those skilled in the art to understand and use my invention; I will now proceed to describe the manner in which the same-is or may ybe carried into effect, by reference to the accompanying drawings, i n whieht Figure l is a vertical central section of an apparatus illustrating my invention, and

Figures 2 and 3 are sections of the same on the-lines w x andy erespectively.

The apparatus A, in which the gas is generated, may be of any ordinary or suitable construction. The one in the drawings is provided with ascrics of partitions, a, around which the air which is forced into the vessel through the pipe b passes in a zigzag course; the stuliing or packing c, of shavings or other suitable material, serving to divide the air, so as to cause it to be impregnated the more'readily with the vapor of the uid. The air, after being fully saturated, passes around the last partition, and is discharged through the pipe d into the 'retort B, where it is to be heated for the purpose. above indicated. This retort, which is of any suitable construction, is lilled with brick, pnmicc-stone, coke, or other equivalent porous material, capable of receiving and holding heat, and is heated by any 'ordinaryor suitable means. vThe material within the retort, while suliip ciently porous to admit of the passageof the gas, divides 'thc latter into minute streams, thus causing every portion of the gas to be subjccteilto the action of'thcheat which is diffused through such material. The gas, after havirig passed through the retort, ii'ows out through the pipe e, and is conducted to the burners, or to the gasometeig whence it maybe distributed throughrnains-and pipes in the usual manner, without being subjectV to the condensation Ato which hydrocarbon gases arcordinarily liable,

In order to utilize all the heatpfthe agent by which thc retort is heated, I enclose the retort within a chamber, C, which contains also thc ,burners or other suitable means for imparting the necessary heat to the retort. This chamber is covered by a top plate,f, and may be used lin lieu of a stove, a series of boiler-holes being formed in the top plate f, just as in any ordinary stove. I have found it advantngeousto heat the retort in the manner .hewn in the drawing, a pipe, g, being led from the main pipe e to a point underneath the retort, where it is' provided with one or more burners, which are fed by that portion of the gas which passes from the Vpipee into the branch g. l

In order to volatilize the fluid in the generator A, and to maintain it in condition to unite readily with the air, I provide the generator with a jacket, It, which partially or wholly encircles it. VThis jacket is connected with the heating-chamber C by means of a iluc, k, through which the surplus heat in the chamber passes to the jacket, and thus ei'ects the heating of the Huid within the generator. By this m'eans such heat may be imparted to the carburetting-uid as to admit of petroleum being used as well as the lighter hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, 85e. The petroleum becoming volatilized by the heat, is rendered quite as effective a carburetting agen-t as the lighter uids usually employed. i

It is evident that my invention may be modified and varied in many respects, without departing from its principle. While7 therefore, describing in illustration of the same, such apparatus as I leem best adapted to give e`eet to the invention, I do not limit myself to the precise details of construction herein described; but,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i 1.- The method herein described of heating air charged with hydrocarbon vapor, so as to render it non- `eondensable previous to its delivery as an illuminating-gas', for the purposes set forth.

2. The employment of a. retort or other heating-medium interposed between the carburetter and gas-holder or other gas-delivering or gas-burning device, substantially asand for the purposes set forth. v

3. The employment of one or more burners under the retort or vessel, for the purpose of heating the same under the arrangement herein shown and described.

4. The combination, with the carburetting-'vessel and intermediate heater, of n, jacket under or around the said carburetter, and u. ilue connecting the jacket with said heater, substantially inthe manner an'd for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof, have signed my nume to this specification before tivo subscribing witnesses.

v J. B. TERRY.

Witnesses A. PoLLoK, M. BAILEY. 

